Research theme: Environment

Climate, Agriculture and Resources

Western Sydney University takes a broad, interdisciplinary approach to sustainability. Research within this theme acknowledges that environmental sustainability is as important in the city and the suburbs as it is in the bush; sustainability relies on insights from sociology, the arts, engineering, green IT, and economics as well as the biological and physical sciences.

Impact Snapshot

Three Degrees of Difference: Is physiological flexibility of forest trees constrained by home climate in a rapidly warming world?

A change of three degrees to average temperatures by 2070 will be the equivalent of a 900 km move north for Australia's forests.

This research is finding out if our forests can adapt.

By using controlled environments to measure the effects of increasing levels of carbon and heat, researchers will be able to determine the photosynthesis and respiration effects to eucalypts under changing climate conditions.

This work will help mitigate the effect of a changing climate through the development of strategies to assist Australia's forests.